Canopy hanger for lighting fixtures



' Filed March e, 1968 April 14, 1970 w woL R ETAL I 3,506,232

' CANOPY HANGER FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO s lWtU/IM 04,42

BY 0 54/1 15 M442 f// y 4 I'/ ATTOR April 14, 1970 w. WQLAR E AL CANOPY HANGER ,F OR LIGHTING FIXTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1968 e u s% 3?? V/M. 1 m 1 mm a United States Patent 3,506,232 CANOPY HANGER FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES William Wolar, 59 Fremont Road, North Tarrytown, N.Y. 10591, and Stanley Wolar, 45 Shirley Lane, White Plains, N.Y. 10607 Filed Mar. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 711,122 Int. Cl. F21v 3/00, 17/06, 19/00, 21/02 U.S. Cl. 248-620 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A canopy hanger for lighting fixtures including means for supporting the canopy and the lighting fixture carried thereby at a distance from the ceiling to facilitate wiring, the canopy including means for securing it to a ceiling supported strap upon completion of the wiring.

This invention relates to canopy hangers for lighting fixtures and more specifically to a novel and improved canopy hanger for lighting fixtures embodying means for supporting the canopy at a distance from the ceiling to facilitate wiring while the fixture is supported by the canopy. Upon completion of the wiring, the canopy may then be secured to a suitable ceiling bracket.

Lighting fixtures may be arranged to be supported from a ceiling in a variety of modes. One type of fixture is designed for direct attachment to a ceiling support and has a canopy movable relative to the fixture so that the canopy can be lowered to facilitate wiring of the fixture and then moved into position against the ceiling. Many types of fixtures, however, are carried directly by the canopy and the canopy in turn is provided with means for attaching it to a ceiling support. In the latter case considerable ditficulty is encountered since the lighting fixture together with the canopy must be held at a distance from the ceiling in order to connect the lighting fixture with ceiling wiring for energizing the fixture. Many of these fixtures are relatively heavy and some are even formed of fragile materials such as glass and the like. Under these conditions two men are usually required to hang the fixture so that one man can support the fixture in its approximate position while the other completes the electrical wiring. This invention overcomes these difficulties in the installation of canopy supported fixtures and provides a novel and improved arrangement and organization of elements which enables a single individual to hang the fixture Without the danger of damaging the fixture or in any way endangering the individual effecting the installation.

Another object of the invention resides in a novel and improved canopy hanger for lighting fixtures which facilitates installation of fixtures supported by the canopy and thus reduces the time and cost of the installation.

A still further object of the invention resides in the novel and improved canopy hanger for lighting fixtures which is characterized by its ease of manufacture, simplicity, and relatively low cost.

The above and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a canopy supported lighting fixture secured in position against a ceiling;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a fragmentary portion of the fixture shown in FIGURE 1 and with the canopy spaced from the ceiling to facilitate w1r1ng:

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 with the canopy fixed in position against the ceiling;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 2 taken along the line 4-4 thereof;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 2 taken along the line 5--5 thereof;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the bracket illustrated in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a clip for securing the canopy supporting chains to a ceiling mounted bracket;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view of a modified form of canopy hanger in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the bracket shown in FIGURE 8 to hold the lower ends of the chain to the canopy; and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of another type of canopy supported lighting fixture with which the invention may be utilized.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 through 6, the canopy supported lighting fixture generally denoted by the numeral 10 includes a canopy 11 having three hooks 12 secured thereto. Chains 13 extend from the hooks 12 and support a dished element 14 containing a suitable light source such as incandescent lamps or the like. It is understood that the lighting fixture illustrated in FIGURE 1 is merely shown for exemplary purposes and it will become apparent as the description proceeds that the invention is applicable to any type of canopy supported fixture.

Lighting fixtures are generally secured to the ceiling by means of an outlet box 15 secured to the ceiling C to which an electrical cable 16 is secured with wires 17 extending into the box 15 for connection to the lighting fixture. While the fixture may be secured to the box 15 in any suitable manner, the illustrated embodiment of the invention utilizes a strap 18 which spans the box 15 and is secured thereto by screws 19 or other suitable fastening means. The strap 18 is provided with a central threaded opening 20 for threadably receiving the elongated threaded nipple 21. The strap 18 further includes a pair of elongated slots 22 which may in certain applications also accommodate the screws 19 for securing the strap to the box 15.

A pair of chains 23, which in the instant embodiment of the invention are in the form of conventional ball chains, are provided to support the canopy 11 at a distance from the ceiling C. The upper end of each chain 23 extends through a slot 22 and is secured to the strap by engagement of a clip 24 with the chain. Each clip is provided with a narrow slot 25 terminating in a central opening 26 as may be seen more clearly in FIGURE 7, which opening has a diameter substantially smaller than the balls on the chains 23. In the fabrication of the clips 24 one edge 27 is bent downwardly as shown in FIGURE 7 to facilitate engagement of the clip with the chains by insertion of the clip with the portion 27 bearing against the upper side of the strap 18, the weight of the fixture will displace the clip portion 27 to a position parallel with the remainder of the clip and thus prevent disengagement of the chains 23 from the strap 18.

The lower ends of the chains 23 are attached to the canopy by means of a bracket 28. This bracket has a central opening 29 to slidably engage the nipple 21, the latter having an external cap 30 to secure it to the canopy and a nut 30' to hold the bracket 28 in position on the nipple. The bracket 28 is provided with relatively small openings 31 spaced from each end of the bracket and narrow slots 32 extending from the central opening 29 to the openings 31. In actual practice the pair of chains 23 would be placed in engagement with the openings 31 before assembly of the bracket on the nipple 21 whereupon insertion of the nipple 21 locks the chains in place.

With this arrangement installation of the fixture is accomplished by assemblying the bracket 28, the chains 23 and the nipple 21 on the canopy 11. The canopy 11 is then secured to the supporting strap 18 by sliding the chains 23 through the slots 22 and placing the clips 24 in position as described. This operation can be accomplished without assistance whether the fixture has been previously secured to the canopy or is secured to the canopy after the latter is in position as shown in FIGURE 2. If desired, the chains 23 can be first secured to the strap 18 and then the lower ends attached to the canopy. With the canopy 11 in the position as shown in FIGURE 2, the wires 33 from the lighting fixture may then be connected with the supply condu'ctors 17 whereupon the entire fixture can be lifted to the position shown in FIGURE 3 for engagement of the nipple 21 with the threaded opening to hold the canopy tightly to the ceiling C.

FIGURES 8 and 9 illustrate another embodiment of the invention wherein the canopy 11' includes a single fixture supporting element 40 to which a chain 41 carrying the fixture is attached. The outlet box 15 in the ceiling C includes a strap 18' having a pair of bolts 42 extending through and downwardly of the strap 18. The upper ends of the ball chains 23 pass through slots 22 in the strap 18' and are secured in position by clips 24 as previously described.

The lower ends of the chains 23 are attached to a bracket 43 connected to the canopy 11' by the fixture supporting means 40 which has a nipple 44 extending through the canopy and through a central opening 45 in the bracket 43 to hold the latter in position on the canopy.

The bracket 43 has U-shaped end portions 47 with each end portion including an opening 48 having a diameter smaller than the balls of the chain 23 and a slot 49 leading from the opening to the lower edge of the U-shaped portion 47. When the ball chains are placed in engagement with the openings 48 on the bracket 43 and the latter is secured to the canopy 11' as illustrated in FIGURE 8, the ball chains are locked in position and cannot accidentally become disengaged from the bracket 43.

The canopy 11' as illustrated in FIGURE 8 further includes a pair of openings 50 which register with the bolts 42 and the canopy is held in place against the ceiling by cooperating nuts 51. Thus it is evident that this form of the invention affords the same advantages as the form of the invention previously described.

FIGURE 10 illustrates another form of lighting fixture which may utilize the invention as previously described. In this illustration the lighting fixture includes a canopy 60 which is held in place by a nipple corresponding to the nipple 21 in FIGURE 2 and a nut 30 which is identical to the nut 30 of FIGURE 2. A dished element 61 overlies the top of the canopy 60 and is held in place against the ceiling when the canopy 60 is engaged with the ceiling support. The lighting means may of course take any suitable configuration such as a plurality of sockets 62 which are secured to the canopy and carry incandescent lamps 63.

While only certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is apparent that alterations, modifications and changes may be made Without de parting from the true scope and spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A canopy hanger for ceiling supported lighting fixtures comprising supporting means secured to said ceiling, a canopy, means releasably securing said canopy to said supporting means, and chain-like means secured at one end to said canopy and at the other end to said supporting means, said chain-like means supporting said canopy at a distance from said ceiling when said securing means is released and fixture attaching means on the outer surface of said canopy for carrying a lighting fixture to be supported by said ceiling. v

2. A'canopy hanger according to claim 1 wherein said chain-like means are ball chains, said supporting means comprises a bracket having at least one opening therein for engagement with said releasable securing means and means connecting said ball chains thereto.

3. A canopy hanger according to claim 1 wherein said means securing said chain-like means to said canopy comprises an elongated bracket secured to said canopy and having at least one opening for engagement with said chain-like means.

4. A canopy hanger according to claim 3 wherein said chain-like means is a ball chain and said bracket includes a slot extending from one edge of said bracket to said opening, the last said opening being smaller than the balls on said ball chain and means locking said ball chain in engagement with said opening.

5. A canopy hanger according to claim 1 wherein said chain-like means comprises a pair of ball chains, said supporting means includes openings for slidably receiv ing the ends of said chains and slotted clips engaging the ends of said chains and interlocked therewith to secure said chains to said supporting means.

6. A canopy hanger according to claim 1 wherein said releasable means securing said canopy to said supporting means comprises an elongated threaded element and said means securing said chain-like means to said canopy comprises an elongated bracket carried by said threaded element and having openings for engagement of said chain-like means.

7. A canopy hanger according to claim 6 wherein said bracket further includes a central opening for engaging said threaded element and slots connecting the central opening with the first openings and said chain-like means comprise ball chains, said ball chains being moved through said slots and into engagement of said threaded element with said central opening prevents disengagement of said ball chains.

8. A canopy hanger according to claim 5 wherein said releasable means securing said canopy to said supporting means comprises an elongated threaded element and said means securing said chain-like means to said canopy comprises an elongated bracket carried by said threaded element and having openings for engagement of said chain-like means.

9. A canopy hanger according to claim 8 wherein said bracket further includes a central opening for engaging said threaded element and slots connecting the central opening with the first openings and said chain-like means comprise ball chains, said ball chains being moved through said slots and into engagement with the first said openings whereupon the engagement of said threaded element with said central opening prevents disengagement of said ball chains.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,716,017 6/1929 White 24078 X 2,568,893 9/1951 Krauthamer 248320 X 2,673,291 3/1954 Moss 240-78 2,967,929 1/1961 Wolar 248-345 X 3,024,356 3/1962 Florence 24078 X ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner I FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner 

